Siege of Taishan

The Siege of Taishan occurred in 190 AD when Liu Bei and his army captured the city of Taishan from Huang Shao's faction of Yellow Turbans. Taishan's fall was a major victory for Liu Bei, who acquired his first city and defeated a major bandit stronghold.

Background
In 190 AD, the migratory warlord Liu Bei found a foothold in northeastern China after securing the Dong Commandery iron mine from the Yellow Turbans. Liu Bei then focused on defeating the regional Yellow Turban threat, which had taken root in Pengcheng, Henei, Taishan, and Bohai. Liu Bei decided to march north to deal with the Yellow Turban stronghold at Taishan, from which Huang Shao based his banditry activities. Liu Bei led his 1,145-strong army north from the Dong iron mine to secure Taishan.

Siege
Taishan was defended by 1,419 Yellow Turbans under faction leader Huang Shao and his lieutenant Guan Hai, with Shi Kuang commanding the local militia forces. Liu Bei and Zhang Fei led the main force of their army in attacking Huang Shao's main force at the southern entrance to the town, while Guan Yu led a flank attack from the eastern entrance. The flank attack succeeded, as Guan Yu and his cavalry rode down the outnumbered Yellow Turban peasants and proceeded to dash at their archers, who were vulnerable behind their main lines. Meanwhile, Zhang Fei succeeded in slaying Guan Hai, and he also succeeded in gravely wounding Huang Shao. However, Huang Shao fought off all of the three Sworn Brothers as he escaped, and they resolved that he would not be able to escape the encirclement. The brothers then marshalled their army for a final attack against the faltering Yellow Turbans as they alternated between retreating and fighting, and they succeeded in routing the rebels and destroying their resolve. Only 154 Yellow Turbans were captured, with the rest being killed or missing. The capture of Taishan gave Liu Bei control of his first town, and it greatly weakened Huang Shao's faction of the Yellow Turbans.